A Missing Cat

The owner of a missing cat is asking for help. “My baby has been missing for over a month
now, and I want him back so badly,” said Mrs. Brown, a 56-year-old woman. Mrs. Brown lives by
herself in a trailer park near Clovis. She said that Clyde, her 7-year-old cat, didn’t come home for
dinner more than a month ago. The next morning he didn’t appear for breakfast either. After Clyde
missed an extra-special lunch, she called the police.

When the policeman asked her to describe Clyde, she told him that Clyde had beautiful
green eyes, had all his teeth but was missing half of his left ear, and was seven years old and
completely white. She then told the officer that Clyde was about a foot high.

A bell went off. “Is Clyde your child or your pet?” the officer suspiciously asked. “Well, he’s
my cat, of course,” Mrs. Brown replied. “Lady, you’re supposed to report missing PERSONS, not
missing CATS,” said the irritated policeman. “Well, who can I report this to?” she asked. “You
can’t. You have to ask around your neighborhood or put up flyers,” replied the officer.

Mrs. Brown figured that a billboard would work a lot better than an 8”x11” piece of paper on
a telephone pole. There was an empty billboard at the end of her street just off the interstate
highway. The billboard had a phone number on it. She called that number, and they told her they
could blow up a picture of Clyde (from Mrs. Brown’s family album) and put it on the billboard for all
to see.

“But how can people see it when they whiz by on the interstate?” she asked. “Oh, don’t
worry, ma’am, they only whiz by between 2 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. The rest of the day, the interstate is
so full of commuters that no one moves.” They told her it would cost only $3,000 a month. So she
took most of the money out of her savings account and rented the billboard for a month.

The month has passed, but Clyde has not appeared. Because she has almost no money in
savings, Mrs. Brown called the local newspaper to see if anyone could help her rent the billboard
for just one more month. She is waiting but, so far, no one has stepped forward.
Vocabulary review

album : album
billboard : papan iklan
commuter : kereta pembawa para pekerja
describe : menggambarkan
flyer : pamflet
neighborhood : tetangga/lingkungan sekitar
highway : jalan raya
interstate : antar Negara bagian
irritate : menjengkelkan
pole : tiang telefon
suspiciously : dengan curiga
trailer : rumah/kereta gandengan
whiz by : bergerak sangat cepat/ ngebut
Listen and Answer

Is a cat missing?
Does Mrs. Brown call her cat “my baby”?
Is Mr. Brown the owner of the cat?
Is Mrs. Brown 56 years old?
Does Mrs. Brown live with her husband?
Does Mrs. Brown live in a trailer?
Is Mrs. Brown’s cat a female?
Is Clyde a seven-year-old black cat?
Does Clyde have all of his teeth?
Is Clyde missing half of his right ear?
What is Clyde missing?
How old is Clyde?
What color is Clyde?
How tall is Clyde?
What did the policeman say that people are supposed to report?
What is at the end of Mrs. Brown’s street?
Where did Mrs. Brown get $3,000?
Where did Mrs. Brown get the picture of Clyde?
What is the interstate full of?
How much did the billboard cost MRS. BROWN?

Dictation
1. Th e o wn e r o f a missin g ca t is a skin g f o r h e lp .
2. S h e live s b y h e rse lf in a t ra ile r p a rk.
3. He r ca t d id n ’t co me h o me f o r d in n e r.
4. Mrs. B ro wn t o ld h im t h a t Clyd e h a d b e a u t if u l g re e n e ye s.
5. He d id n ’t a p p e a r f o r b re a kf a st e it h e r.
6. Th e re wa s a n e mp t y b illb o a rd a t t h e e n d o f Mrs. B ro wn ’s st re e t .
7. Th e y t o ld h e r t h e y co u ld b lo w u p a p ict u re .
8. Th e in t e rst a t e is so f u ll o f co mmu t e rs t h a t n o o n e mo ve s.
9. S h e t o o k mo st o f t h e mo n e y o u t o f h e r sa vin g s a c co u n t .
10. S h e ca lle d t h e lo ca l n e wsp a p e r t o se e if a n yo n e co u ld h e lp .